She draws the line, though, when silly pranks become dangerous.
Ford mailed a letter to parents this week alerting them that some students are rubbing erasers across their skin, or a peer's, until it burns, sometimes creating an open or bleeding wound that is susceptible to infection.
"I was astounded at the length and number of burns some students had either caused themselves or had others do to them,'' Ford wrote.
She advised parents to be on the lookout for the wounds and to talk with their children to discourage the behavior.
Ford said Wednesday it is not a prevalent practice, but she wanted to halt it before it becomes more widespread, or someone is really hurt.
She equated the practice to students years ago giving each other an "Indian rug burn" by twisting their hands around someone's arm or wrist until it was red and sore.
Unlike cutting, which could be the symptom of a more serious emotional or mental illness, Ford said, this does not appear to be an attempt at self-mutilation as much as a joke gone awry.
School staff who suspect the behavior has gone too far will immediately intervene, she said.
"This is just something I think parents should be aware of. If parents are on the lookout, that's great for us. At this (middle school) age, it's really important to catch behaviors early on and say, 'That's not wise.'''
Danbury schools health coordinator Sue Levasseur said she is not particularly shocked that middle schoolers engage in this activity, but she has not gotten any reports from her school nurses about it.
She said middle school is when young teenagers "seem to invent ways to hurt themselves.''
New Milford Townwide PTO chairman Angie Chastain, the mother of an eighth-grader, applauded Ford's swift response.
"This could be a precursor to something more serious, so I'm happy to see (school officials) take a proactive stand to get information out to parents as quickly as they did,'' she said.